Saturday, 6 April 2013

I had a guy ring the other day to tell me he could sort out
my computer problems.

I put on my credulous voice and said how wonderful, what
should I do?

He said was my computer logged in and online?

I said, yes, it was right there in front of me.

In fact, it was upstairs and off, but he was being a lying
bastard so I thought why shouldn't I?

We had an interesting exchange where he told me what to type
and what to click and we got as far as:

Him: ‘Now there should be a box come up on the screen.’

Me: ‘Oh yes, there it is.’

Him: ‘What does it say inside it?’

Me: ‘Uh... it’s hard to see without my glasses. Is it some
numbers you want?’

Him: ‘Yes, yes, that’s right. Can you get your glasses?’

I was going to read him a lecture about targeting vulnerable
people and how would he like it if it were his elderly mother/granny etc?

But
in the end I just got fed up, so said, ‘I'm bored with this now. If you think I'm
going to hand over data that lets some total stranger control my computer, you
have the brain of a gnat.’ And I hung up.

Friday, 5 April 2013

The Flying Ducks met in Beckwithshaw: first Thursday of the
month, a date I usually have to miss through work commitments. Spring sunshine,
masses of crocuses making Harrogate look very Spring-like. It was even quite
warm out of the wind, but the breeze when it hit was an icy reminder of why
there is still unmelted snow on the verges.

I first attended these meetings years ago when they were
held at Harlow Carr on the outskirts of Harrogate. From those days many of the same
faces remain and there are as many new ones. And still a good attendance, about
two dozen this time. It’s quite a logistical challenge getting that many people
round a table in a pub, but being a creative group we find creative ways to
manage it. I was sitting in the wrong place for taking photos, but there’s a
bad one above anyway. There’s a better photo here on Facebook.